Getting our healthy on, one day at a time.

Tag Archives: i quit sugar

We’ve been dealing with some sickness in our camp. I’ve had to turn to antibiotics, which I detest. However, when dealing with a chest and sinus infection I don’t want to mess with it.

What I can do is look after myself, along with my husband who is the recipient and now carrier of my germs. Let’s just say I’m not so popular with my husband at the moment. My current nickname: “the infector”. Nice.

In addition to eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, I decided to make bone broth last night. Bone broth is a source of goodness and a well known gut healer.

The method?

First up I roasted a chicken and vegetables for dinner and we had a good old fashioned roast dinner. Very good! Homemade gravy and all. My grandmother would make Sunday roasts and I would watch her as a child. I just did what I remembered and it worked! So easy I don’t know why I haven’t done this before!

Secondly I simmered the chicken carcass in 5.5 litres of water in my dutch oven, along with celery, onion, garlic and carrots. I added 2x TBS of apple cider vinegar to draw out the nutrients from the carcass. Towards the end I added fresh rosemary and thyme. I didn’t salt the stock, this can be done when I use it for cooking.

Bone broth simmering away

4 hours later and I had a great stock. Ideally I would cook this for 8 hours, or up to 24 hours in my slow cooker. Alas, I did it on the stovetop and had to go to bed!

The chicken was $10. Including another couple of chicken breasts, organic vegetables and herbs, for $25 I got 5 liters of bone broth, a batch of soup (6-8 servings) and three nights worth of roast dinner for two people. Not bad at all!

Verdict: I would do this again, although it was a lot of work. I did enjoy it and found the process to be quite therapeutic. Plus now I have homemade bone broth on hand!

After a long day in the office I enjoy getting home and cooking. I still don’t enjoy cooking dinner for the evening. I enjoy preparing snacks and baking.

Last night I finally made Sarah Wilson’s Leftover Veggie Bread which is Paleo and very healthy! It does have buckwheat in it which not everyone classes as true “Paleo”. I have been craving carbs and decided this bread would be a good fix.

After reading comments about the bread being too moist I decided to squeeze all the water out of the zucchini. I used the two zucchinis mentioned in the recipe. Also some of the water out of the grated carrots using a clean dish towel. This worked perfectly and the bread was moist, but not undercooked or too moist. I chose to use the 1 TBS of rice malt syrup. I used pumpkin in the recipe (not sweet potato) so figured the little bit of sweetness would be nice. That worked out well. The bread doesn’t taste sweet at all, even with the TBS of rice malt syrup. So I will include it again when I make it next time. And there will be a next time!

I highly recommend this bread. Its filling and a healthy snack or breakfast. I had a slice this morning, unheated, with quarter avocado. Wonderful!

I’m 3.5 weeks in and doing well with eating sugar free. Having 2 pieces of fruit a day is proving to be great.

I’m past my initial cravings and feeling good about it. Saturday night I was at a wedding and skipped the dessert – creme brulee and brownies. Last night we had friends over – I watched as they ate two blocks of lindt chocolate and I didn’t feel like I wanted any. This is major progress for me. I’m still planning out most of my meals and cooking most meals from scratch.